A lighthouse keeper turned content creator has shared his experience of maintaining the centuries-old Casquets Lighthouse.
Technician Scott Tacchi works for the charity Trinity House which maintains lighthouses across the British Isles and documented his bi-annual visit to the over 300-year old lighthouse on Les Casquets, Alderney on Youtube.
The trip occurred during summer 2025 where there was also another team from Trinity carrying out work on Les Hanois Lighthouse simultaneously.
Mr Tacchi explains the group are carrying out corrective maintenance on anything that needs attending to from plumbing to electrical work, and delves into the history of the site including how it has changed over time, moving from three separate towers to just one today.
He tours the station and facilities, showing off the spacious bedrooms, bathroom and kitchen which he says is a welcome difference to other stations where the beds are often small and curved.
“The nice thing about Casquets is the lighthouse is completely separate from the accommodation,” he said.
He also noted the outdoor BBQ at Casquets as a plus.
On his trip the classic Channel fog rolled in preventing the team from removing waste that had built up at the station over several months.
He shows off the light itself which is a mercury bearing optic providing an almost frictionless base for the several tonne light to rotate on, saying the Victorian engineering is “just astonishing”.
But due to the risk and hazards involved with mercury, and the plummeting cost and efficiency of LED lighting, they are slowly being decommissioned around the British Isles.
“It’s really sad to see it happen, but I appreciate why,” Mr Tacchi says.
There are also reminders of the Occupation days, with a German compass engraved into the central courtyard and old ammunition casings scattered around the island.